


I Like My Love A Little Burnt (With Some Jam On The Side, Please)

by xKireyy



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Bread, Bunnies, But whatever, Cats, Children, DEAL WITH IT, Daycare, I didn't think the simon one through, M/M, Toast, aka niall, basically the premise of this story is to pick someone supportive, harry loves him a lot, harry works, jk nialls not in this story, larry stylinson - Freeform, louis and harry have kids, louis is always stressed, louis runs a daycare, their names are avery and simon, this simon is different than simon cowell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-27
Updated: 2015-09-27
Packaged: 2018-04-23 16:59:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4884652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xKireyy/pseuds/xKireyy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Do you even like burned toast?"</p><p>"Your dad works very hard every day and he’s always very tired. Besides, burned toast never hurt anyone. But you know what does? Saying mean things.”</p><p>In which Louis runs a home daycare and can only cook burnt toast while Harry loves him unconditionally. AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Like My Love A Little Burnt (With Some Jam On The Side, Please)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi hiii, here's another oneshot I wrote. This could be considered a continuation of KKWT? buuuutttt that's up for interpretation ;)

“I need to–Goddamnit!”

Louis pops up the burnt toast, black smoke rising from the toaster. He waves it away with a rag and shuffles over to crack a window. Harry and their two children watch from the table, and Harry smiles sympathetically.

“Do you need help, love?”

“No, I’m–no,” Louis slides back over to the toaster to take out the toast, “I’m fine–fuck!” He flinches as he touches the scalding bread. He quickly runs back over to the sink to run his fingers under cold water, and Harry slides from his chair at the table and pads over to Louis who is scowling at his hand.

“Louis,” He says gently, and Louis’ shoulders drop in defeat. Harry wraps his hands around Louis’ petite waist and presses a kiss to his temple. “Go get the kids. I’ll finish making breakfast.”

Louis frowns. “But–”

Harry holds up a finger to silence him. He turns Louis around by the shoulders and wipes his fingers off with a towel before pushing him gently towards the stairs with a slap on the bum. Louis casts him a cheeky look and Harry turns back to the black toast sitting on top the toaster.

When he picks up the piece of toast, he sees it’s shriveled down to nearly the size of a crouton. It’s completely black and crispy and the edges crumble between his fingers. He turns to his kids and they simply stare back at him.

Louis comes down from the stairs minutes later and everyone is seated with cereal, or in Harry’s case burnt toast with a slab of strawberry jam. Avery, their six year old daughter, is giving a disgusted look to the soggy Captain Crunch in front of her while Simon, their eight year old son, can’t take his eyes off of the black crisp on Harry’s plate. 

“Is that edible?” Avery asks Harry. Louis sinks into his chair and Harry nods.

“Of course, sweetie. Your dad worked very hard on it.” He says, then takes a bite of the toast. It makes a loud, ear piercing crunch, and Louis cringes shamefully.

“Harry, you really don’t’ have to eat it–”

“It’s amazing.” He says, brushing the wisps of hair away from Louis’ face. “Just like you.”

Avery and Simon look at each other and stick their tongues out in disgust. To this day, Harry never ceases to make Louis blush even with the simplest of things. Even when they first started dating Harry was able to woo Louis over with a cheesy knock knock joke. Harry chuckles at his kids.

“Oh you two, be glad your parents are in love.”

He takes another bite of the toast and Louis wants to wither away into dust. Louis knows he’s terrible at cooking so he doesn’t understand why Harry is eating it. He never has time in the morning to make a decent breakfast and always makes his kids eat cereal while Harry has a piece of bread with jam. Avery and Simon watch in awe as Harry eats the toast without so much as a bat of they eye. Harry notices everyone’s eyes on him and gestures to his children’s bowls.

“Eat. You don’t want it to get soggier.”

Avery pouts. “But daddy–”

Harry simply raises an eyebrow and Avery quickly begins to shovel the cereal into her mouth. Simon follows her actions with trepidation and keeps his eyes on Harry, doing his best to keep a straight face. 

The daycare is hectic that day, and Louis is running around saving small children from falling down the slides and getting sand thrown in their eyes. He doesn’t have time to make anything for dinner except a badly-made casserole that spills over in the oven halfway through the last two kids being picked up, and Louis has to shut the front door and dash to the oven. He pulls out the casserole and sets it on the stove, pressing the palms of his hands to his forehead in exasperation. 

That night in bed after Avery and Simon are tucked in bed, Harry brushes his teeth and slips next to Louis under the covers. Louis turns on his side to face him.

“I’m such a failure.”

Harry immediately frowns and brushes his fingers against Louis’ cheekbone. “Don’t say that, baby. You’re not a failure, you’re amazing.” Louis is unconvinced, and Harry presses a minty kiss to his forehead. “Don’t even worry about it. I love you so much.”

Harry pulls Louis close to his chest. Louis sighs deeply and falls asleep to the swirling scent of his wonderful husband he doesn’t even know how he deserves.

XxX

The next morning Louis is in a hurry once again, and only has time to overcook Harry’s piece of toast before rushing outside to greet the plethora of kids. Avery and Simon give Harry a look from across the table and Harry winks at them.

“Charlise, no, don’t touch that!” 

A loud clatter rings against the floor. It’s barely noon and Avery and the other kids cringe from their chairs as Louis goes to get the broom from the pantry. He wipes the sweat from his forehead and goes to sweep up the broken vase now shattered across the floor. It’s inevitable to have a personal belonging of theirs not get broken with a daycare full of kids under the age of four. Even with all the child-proof door handles and locks they’ve invested in, somehow something always manages to get broken. Todays victim just happens to be Harry’s great-aunts vase passed down to him and Louis wants to rip his hair out.

“Simon, will you please clean this up while I go take the doodles outside?” Louis asks, having a habit of referring to the daycare kids as “doodles”, handing Simon the broom without much of a choice. He sighs and begins to sweep the debris up while Avery swings her legs back and forth from the chair. 

Louis ushers the kids outside and has to stop Robert from poking Sophie with a stick. He chases them around a bit before he’s absolutely exhausted and has to sit down. Charlise is playing in the sandbox with one of their newest additions to the daycare. Her name is Dani and she’s rather shy; she immediately clung to Charlise and the two have been inseparable since. Louis can’t say Charlise is necessarily a good influence, but they keep each other occupied and that’s all that matters. He already has to deal with Robert’s massive crush on Sophie and the other three boys who always manage to scratch the slide up each time they go down it even when Louis checks their pockets for sharp objects front and back. He’s had to replace the slide three different times.

A long time ago Louis chose to be a stay at home dad, but he didn’t want to be completely useless while Harry went and worked all day, so decided to start up a home daycare. It was fun at first, but now Louis is starting to question his decision. He’s exhausted all the time, he never has time to make a proper breakfast or dinner, he always has twenty things on his mind at once, and he only makes enough money to keep food on the table for a week and get crafts for the daycare kids before having to do it all over again. He still has to rely heavily on Harry for their main source of income and it bothers him. Every weekday seven-thirty AM to four PM Louis is elbow-deep in toddlers stampeding around his basement and outside and frankly it’s starting to wear on him.

He and Harry chose to homeschool their kids so they would get to at least spend time with one of their parents, but so far Louis feels like he’s neglecting them still the same. He’s always too tired at night to tuck Avery in bed or play cars with Simon, so he has Harry do it while Louis struggles to cook a semi-decent dinner and get the last of the kids out the door. It always ends up being a pot roast or casserole since he can throw it together then stick it in the oven and not worry about it, but as of recent he’s been too stressed to even think about setting a timer. Everything always overflows or overcooks and it causes him more work than necessary to clean the oven afterwards.

So on the days he forgets to cook altogether, he’ll hand Simon a pack of instant Mac and Cheese with pre-cooked sausage and let him do his own thing. It’s not healthy, and Louis knows it, but he just can’t find the time or patience anymore. Multiple people rely on him to take care of their kids and if he only does a sub-par job he'll lose money. And if he loses money, that’s more stress on Harry and less food to feed his own family.

“Robert, please stop poking Sophie with a stick.” Louis repeats for what seems like the thirtieth time that day. Avery and Simon come outside and Louis pulls Avery onto his lap. She smiles at him.

“Can I go play in the sandbox?”

“Did you finish your math worksheet?” He asks, lightly bouncing his knee up and down. She giggles and Louis automatically knows that means “no”.

“Avery Jane Styles, get in there before I tell your father!”

She giggles even harder and scurries into the house. Louis simply laughs and his eyes settle on Simon. He has Sheldon’s hand in his and is leading him around the backyard to the bunny hut. The bunnies were Harry’s idea – since Avery had apparently been begging him for some for ages – and so one day when Louis got back from the grocery store he found Harry, Simon, and Avery completely engrossed in building a bunny hut from scratch. They had gone out and bought the wire, wooden boards, nails, and everything. Harry pegged it as a homeschool lesson; Louis just knew it was an excuse to get pets. 

They all have a bunny, technically, but Louis just lets Avery take care of his since he doesn’t care for animals. Harry, on the other hand, absolutely adores animals and even went as far to get a family cat and then a cat just for Avery. Their names are Piper and Pearl, and Piper is old, matted, and grumpy – basically the mere image of Louis – while Pearl is fairly young and has the sass level above the average feline. She’s just perfect for Avery, and Harry often says Pearl reminds him of Louis back when they were dating, but in the back of Louis’ mind he knows he doesn’t mean that anymore. 

That night Harry comes home and Avery and Simon jump on his legs. He laughs and chases them around the house all while Louis is scrambling to throw a pot luck together and open a can of tomato soup. Harry comes in the kitchen with his two children still latched onto his feet and presses a kiss to Louis’ lips. Louis feels all of his pent up stress begin to surface and he pulls away.

“What, you’re not happy to see me?” Harry asks, lighthearted of course, but Louis doesn’t want to believe he’s as good as a spouse as Harry makes him out to be.

“No, I am, I’m just trying to get dinner ready. The last doodle just left.” Louis says, turning back to the pot of boiling water. He’s cutting up celery and carrots and has Avery getting him a can of beans from their food storage. It’s been running low recently and that’s Louis’ fault. He’s in charge of their storage and all the groceries and he’s been too tired to go and search around town for case lot sales. He presses his hands against his throbbing forehead.

“Hey, Louis,” Harry pulls Louis in by the waist and presses a kiss to his forehead. “go to bed early. I’ll finish making dinner.”

Louis knows he’s about to cry. “But you’re tired and you just got home–”

“Louis,” Harry’s eyes gleam with a radiating positivity and it only makes Louis feel worse about himself, “I promise. Avery and Simon will understand, they know you’re doing your absolute best. They won’t hold it against you.”

That’s always been one of Louis’ fears; his kids growing up and hating him because he never paid enough attention to them. It’s always been a voiced concern since they started dating, and Harry has always reassured both Avery and Simon that even if neither of them can be at a sports game or go to an audition or do something as simple as read a bed time story, they will always love them very much and are doing their best to make their home and financial situation as comfortable as possible. Avery understands, but it’s Simon Louis is the most worried about. 

"Okay." Louis mutters, and before he can shuffle off into the dark abyss he calls a room, Harry pulls him in for a dramatic kiss and dips him. That brings a smile to Louis’ face and suddenly he doesn’t feel like such a loser anymore. Maybe Harry is right, maybe Louis is worrying too much about things he knows he can’t control, maybe he’s setting his expectations too high for himself. Maybe he needs to believe Harry and what he’s saying is true. 

“I love you.” Harry says right against his lips. Louis’ back is still arched in the dip and even though it’s uncomfortable he doesn’t mind one bit. It’s romantic as fuck and his kids aren’t in the room so he doesn’t care. 

“I love you too.” Louis leans up to peck a kiss against Harry’s lips. He smiles and brings Louis back up and rubs circles in his back, leaning forward right next to the cusp of his ear.

“If you want, after dinner I can put the kids to bed early and we can try out that new position you wanted.” 

The words send a shiver up Louis’ spine. Harry’s such a little shit making him horny when he’s exhausted. Either this is going to be amazing mind-blowing sex or it’s going to only be half-satisfying and they’ll both be left with aching balls. In any case, Louis is definitely looking forward to eight-thirty now and is very impatient. He doesn’t remember the last time he got laid to the point where every muscle in his body was sore. Judging by Harry’s sultry tone, that’s what was going to happen tonight.

“…Maybe I can stay and finish making dinner.”

XxX

In the morning, Louis has a little bounce to his step. He still underestimates the time he takes to do his hair – when he knows he shouldn’t spend so much time on it because it just gets messed up from all the doodles anyway – and is scrambling around the kitchen to make his children eat something other than sugary cereal that’s only full of empty calories and a promised stomach ache. He doesn’t feel stressed though, and he can tell a difference. He feels light and feathery, like he’s walking on air almost. He doesn’t know why, but it’s nice.

Louis feels like being fancy and throws together a pancake mix and only gets four flipped before the doorbell rings. He curses under his breath and throws a piece of bread in the toaster for Harry and dashes to the door to greet the first mother with her toddler. 

Louis asks Harry to help get the arriving doodles settled while he finishes making breakfast, and Harry does so willingly. Louis flips as many pancakes as he can and only gets three-fourths through the batter before Harry has to leave. Louis presses a kiss to his cheek and runs downstairs all while Harry smiles at the mess his wonderful husband made on the counter. There’s pancake mix spilled on the stove and the counter (Harry’s pretty sure there’s some on the floor as well) and flaked crisps from his black toast on the cutting board. Avery and Simon are sitting at the table with half-cooked pancakes on their plate while Harry sits down with a smile and his burned piece of toast.

The rest of the week goes like that. Louis suddenly gets the urge to try cooking something new every morning and even if it turns out terrible, he’s okay with that. Harry and his kids still love him and know he’s doing his absolute best to provide for their family, cook, clean, parent, and get enough sleep. Simon seems to be happier, too, ever since Louis started smiling more. Louis tries to spend a little more of his free time with Simon rather than taking a nap on the couch or cleaning, because he’ll always be tired and the spilled pancake mess will always be there, but Simon won’t, and Louis wants to cherish the time he has with his kids while they’re little. He’s already spaced so much of their childhood and wants to enjoy it to the fullest.

“Sorry for burning the toast again.” Louis says one morning, pressing a kiss to Harry’s cheek. Harry smiles.

“Don't worry, I love burned toast.”

Louis grins and hops down the stairs while Avery and Simon stare at Harry blankly. Harry knows they want to say something, but they’re not, so he just winks at them.

Later that night when Louis is dead asleep on the couch after an exhausting day, Harry is tucking Simon into bed when Simon tugs on his sleeve. Harry turns his head.

“Hm?”

“Daddy,” Simon hesitates and fumbles with his blanket. “Um, do you even like burned toast?”

Harry slowly sits on the corner of the bed. He brushes Simon’s hair away from his face.

“Your dad works very hard every day and he’s always very tired. Besides, burned toast never hurt anyone.” He smiles and ruffles Simon’s hair, making him laugh. “But you know what does? Saying mean things.”

Simon cocks his head to the side in confusion, so Harry continues.

“Life is full of imperfect things and imperfect people. I’m just the same as everyone else, I forget birthdays, important dates, I’ve even forgotten mine and Louis’ anniversary.” Harry smiles at the memory. “But what I’ve learned is to accept people for who they are, even if they’re not perfect. Your dad is just the same as everyone else, he’ll mess up and make mistakes but it’s our job to love and support him, even if just by eating a piece of toast.”

Simon stares at Harry for a long time. “I don’t get it.”

Harry smiles.

“That’s okay, you don’t have to.”

XxX

**Author's Note:**

> What'cha think? Leave a comment here or on my twitter @velvetylwt! :)


End file.
